Japanese hostages freed

TV footage from Baghdad showed the hostages looking relieved

Three Japanese civilians who were taken hostage in Iraq last week have been freed unharmed.

Japanese government officials confirmed the news, which was first reported by the Arab broadcaster al-Jazeera.

Aid worker Nahoko Takato, researcher Noriaki Imai and photojournalist Sochiro Koriyama were all in good health, al-Jazeera said.

Their kidnappers had threatened to kill them unless Japan pulled its 550 troops out of Iraq.

The hostages are now in the Japanese embassy in Baghdad. The female captive, Nahoko Takato, was shown in the al-Jazeera footage in tears.

I'm so happy I can't stand it Kyoko Takato, Nahoko's mother

They were turned over to the Committee of Muslim Scholars in Baghdad, a Sunni Muslim organisation that mediated their freedom, according to the Associated Press.

There were cries of joy, hugs and tears from the hostages' families, who have been camped in an office in Tokyo since their capture a week ago.

"When I saw them alive on TV, I felt really happy," said Ayako Inoue, Nahoko's sister.

"I feel truly grateful from the bottom of my heart for many people who took action to save their lives."

"I'm so happy I can't stand it," said Kyoko Takato, Nahoko's mother. "I've been waiting so long for this."

Photos and profiles of the freed Japanese hostages

In pictures

The BBC's correspondent in Tokyo, Jonathan Head, says it is not clear what prompted their captors' change of heart.

It is extremely welcome news for Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, whose decision to send troops to Iraq had been widely criticised, our correspondent says.

But the relief is tempered by Japanese media reports earlier on Thursday that two other civilians have also been taken hostage in Iraq, although the government said it was yet to confirm this.

The latest Japanese nationals to have reportedly been abducted are freelance journalist Jumpei Yasuda, 30, and Nobutaka Watanabe, 36, an anti-war activist and former member of the Japanese army.

JAPANESE IN IRAQ 550 troops are in the south-eastern city of Samawah The soldiers are tasked with rebuilding infrastructure It is Japan's first post-war deployment to a combat zone

An email received by an organisation in Tokyo said the two men were seized in Abu Gharib, to the west of Baghdad.

According to the email message, the two men were seized after travelling by taxi to photograph a US military helicopter which had crashed west of Baghdad. An armed group surrounded them and took them away.

Up to 40 foreigners from at least a dozen countries are currently being held hostage in Iraq. On Thursday, an Italian man was confirmed to have been killed by his captors.

The security situation has deteriorated in the past few weeks, with US-led forces locked in some of the fiercest battles with Iraqi militants since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime a year ago.